Your Example, Their Encounter

I love Saint Paul, and I love him in the Acts of the Apostles! He was able to speak more concisely than he wrote. (Seriously, in all his letters he had some extreme run-on sentences, am I right, English majors?) In Acts 13, Paul was able to break down salvation history in ten sentences! No priest could give a homily like this at a weekday Mass.

What really stands out to me is how fearlessly Saint Paul addressed the synagogue officials with a message he knew they would reject and for which they would possibly sentence him to prison. I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m often afraid to share the Good News with fellow Christians out of fear of being considered "too Catholic."

If I were in that temple and knew Christ to be the Savior the world has been awaiting, what would my “exhortation” have been? What would I have shared to men who didn’t know Christ or who had never even heard the murmurs spreading about Him? What would I want the world to know about my Beloved? Even now words escape me as I sit in stillness overwhelmed by how He has loved me so passionately and mercifully.

Well, guess what, ladies? We have this opportunity today to exhort Him. We live in a world surrounded by people in our daily lives who have never heard of or encountered Christ. They think they know Christ, but they have never encountered Him. What you say, who you are, and how you live is an exhortation the world needs to see, hear, and witness today and every day!

As the Gospel of John points out, “whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me” (John 13:20). Use every breath in your lungs so that your brothers and sisters in Christ can receive your Beloved!

He has loved me so passionately and mercifully.Click to tweet

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Tricia Tembreull is a California girl with a boundless passion for life. After two decades of ministering to teens and youth ministers as a trainer, ministry mentor, and speaker in Catholic youth ministry, Tricia now serves as Campus Minister at USC Caruso Catholic Center. She loves adventure and seeks it everywhere she goes. As an avid foodie, she enjoys testing new recipes out on friends and family, gathering them around the table to encounter Christ in one another and be drawn to the satisfying unity we crave in the Eucharist. You can find out more about her here.